Women 'Nearly Twice as Likely to Have Anxiety' as Men

June 7, 2016

A Cambridge University study that reviewed 48 published articles on the subject reveals that women are nearly twice as likely to experience anxiety as men. In addition, people under the age of 35 and those with health problems appear to be particularly affected. The review, published in the journal Brain and Behavior, estimate that four out of every 100 people globally have some form of anxiety, with North America clocking in with the most alarming rates -- eight in 100 people -- and East Asia populations appearing the least affected, with three in 100 people affected.

One of the review's authors, Olivia Remes from Cambridge's department of public health and primary care, noted that while "there has been a lot of focus on depression ... anxiety is equally important and debilitating. It can lead to the development of other diseases and psychiatric disorders," she stressed, quoted at BBC.com, "increase the risk for suicide, and is associated with high costs to society."